Wife has agreed to let me have a dog! now trying to decide what breed...

[[Philip]]

This is my boy Gelert. Daft as a brush.. He's just turned 13.

I could only ever have a boxer.. (although could do without the slobber and snoring!)

 

[Hill Wimp]

Cairn Terrier. Best friend I have ever had.

Tibetian Terrier if you want a non shedder.

Both packed with character , totally loyal and bags if fun, also very good with children.

 

[Arch]

One of my colleagues had to call on a woman today to deliver some info about composting and growing veg. She (the woman, not my colleague) is a single mum with kids of 5, 3 and 1, and has just got a 5 month (or was it weeks, that seems far too young?) old puppy.

There, we fear, is a recipe for disaster and a dog bound for the shelter sooner or later. To take on a puppy when you're trying to look after 3 kids under school age alone...

 

[Mattonsea]

We have loads of Lurchers , all rescued . Great with kids , walks consist of going doolaley for 5 minutes and they only need a comfy
sofa. All shapes and sizes but all soppy. Checkout www.southernlurcherrescue.co.uk

 

[LarryDuff]

Agreed, we have a Cockapoo, so half the same, just over a year old. Brilliant with the kids (10,9,5,4) and will even share the garden with our 4 Guinea Pigs when they are running loose Only bad habit she has is chewing stuff, anything that is left on the floor, kids toys etc. She's ace!

In her "It wasn't me pose"

That face is adorable.

I hate not having a dog.

 

[Ben M]

It sounds like you want a Staffie, so that's what you'll inevitably get...

... But you should get a beagle or, preferably, two

 

[[Philip]]

Ah if Staffies really interest you get one! They are lovely dogs. Look past the reputation that some of their owners have. I've got friends with Staffies and they are lovely daft happy dogs.

 

[kerndog]

It sounds like you want a Staffie, so that's what you'll inevitably get...

funny you should say that... i'm actually heading towards a mungral now. I just went and spent some time with a small 4 month old staffie and his owners, he was lovely. I also met a man with a Tibetan terrier this afternoon and he was a lovely little chap, much better suited for the kids. thing is I would really just like to adopt a puppy, The more I think on it the more i think I should re home and the more i realise that I cant rush it and need to take my time. the kids want one tomorrow though, they'll have to wait.

 

[buggi]

i have a shih tzu. Her human mum decided she didn't want her at 12 bcoz she had a human baby She now lives with me and we are both very happy.

 

[Bromptonaut]

Yes I did read the thread fully, however it seems that you did not read my post. I said play fighting with your kids around ANY dog

Suspect that sort of behaviour can bring out pack instincts; never wholly subdued in any domestic dog.

 

[MichaelM]

The Kennel Club only recommend two breeds as being particularly suitable with children - the Chesapeke Bay Retriever, and................... the Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

If/when you do get a dog, look into modern training methods and thinking on canine behaviour - I would advise you to ignore anything based on the outdated ideas of dominance/pack theory.

 

[MichaelM]

... "Wrestling" to a dog is looking for dominance, even as puppies they "wrestle" to practice becoming the dominant one, another reason why with certain breeds you don't play "tug of war" as this to them is a dominating game.

Why do you think this? What do you base this on? What do you mean by looking for dominance?

 

[MichaelM]

"They're only aggressive if trained to be."

But they have been bred to have that aggressive streak. Isn't that the point? There are very few cases of whippets savaging toddlers to death, and plenty of SBTs.

I take it you are referring to fighting dogs.

They have been bred to have that aggressive streak... with other dogs, NOT with humans. There are videos online (I don't particularly want to go looking for them) which show dogs fighting with the owner of each dog in the "ring", often low and close up as they "encourage" their dogs to fight. Do you think they'd get up so close if they thought these dogs had a tendency to turn on humans?

In the warped world of these "dog-men", biting a person is seen as the ultimate crime and will lead to the death of the dog.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Bruno, around the time we got him (well, ok, a bit afterwards as he ended up being a little bit overweight for a while until we got everything sorted out for him - He was our first dog, so we learned quite a lot from him).
View attachment 31216

Ok, I'm still not sure about this Christmas thing folks!

Bruno looking a bit thinner.

View attachment 31217

He looks like a bruno!

Despite how he might have looked in the first picture (I think he looks older and noticeably slimmer in the second), Bruno was in fact the most quiet and gentle soul you could have met, he LOVED people (hence the huge grin on his face in the first picture) and he became a Therapet for 5 years before he finally lost interest in his old age.

He was put down 3 years ago now at the age of about 12 as he developed a brain tumour that affected his back legs/balance.

He was a Staffie Alsation Labrador everything else cross, i.e a 'Pedigree Heinz 57' and he had him for nigh on 10 years.

Cindy the 3 legged Staffie, our other dog is now 10 by the way (we got her when she was 11 months old).

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

funny you should say that... i'm actually heading towards a mungral now. I just went and spent some time with a small 4 month old staffie and his owners, he was lovely. I also met a man with a Tibetan terrier this afternoon and he was a lovely little chap, much better suited for the kids. thing is I would really just like to adopt a puppy, The more I think on it the more i think I should re home and the more i realise that I cant rush it and need to take my time. the kids want one tomorrow though, they'll have to wait.

Take your time and get the right dog, you won't regret it!

That said, we went to the shelter with the intention of getting a small dog and ended up with Bruno. We wouldn't have changed it for the world though, and just goes to show that what you want and what you need aren't always the same! Ask the staff/others involved what they think and if there are any 'special' dogs in need of a home. Bruno was a true gem that we would probably have missed had it not been for the staff (he had been quietly sitting at the back of his cage and eventually wandered down as if to say

'What's the point?'

He had been there for 3 months (although someone else had rehomed him but had to bring him back because they found out they were allergic to him) so he obviously thought trying to do anything was futile). Even years later the staff still remembered him with affection, he certainly had left his mark, a mark well earned when he was passed as a therapet (he surely must have been assistance dog material and if he'd had a different start to life, who knows?).

In fact, the only thing he hated (except for cats) was Motorbikes, or to be more exact, the noise. We never did find out what had happened to him in his previous life/s.
Other than that, he had been impeccably trained by someone, and we didn't even hear him bark until the first night we had him home and someone came to the door.
We were spoiled with him, especially as a first dog!

What a dog, what a dog!!